WACO, Texas — Young people are less likely to try alcohol and drugs if they attend religious services regularly and self-identify as religious, a new study by Baylor University in Waco, Texas, has found.
The study suggests that youth who feel connected to a “higher power” may experience more purpose in life, and therefore be more inclined to avoid chemical substances when faced with hardships in life.
Those interviewed who are recovering from substance abuse warned against seeing church and youth group attendance alone as antidotes to the lure of drugs and alcohol. They said they became addicts and alcoholics despite consistent worship attendance and strong identities as Christians.
The study of 195 juvenile offenders was conducted by researchers at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, the University of Akron and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
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